Thetownend.com

Looks like Liverpool will cling on to their 1-0 win, but Reading have missed four great chances.  McAnuff was a couple of inches away from scoring a goal to rival Giggs v Arsenal 1999.

I can't believe he missed it tbh. All he had to do was dink it over the keeper.

It was an awful miss in the end. I doubt Carragher would play for anyone else therefore I can't see him playing for much longer - not having a good season.

Calzaghe had lay down on the floor about 5 minutes before Jobi was in the box. He just had to roll the bloody thing in.

I know - what a goal it would have been though.  I know we all hate Reading, but I wanted that to go in.

Brian Howard had so much talent.

I think he's wasted it. If he got his head down and worked hard he could have been so much more than a bench warmer for a hopefully getting relegated Championship club.

Penalty.

Pen to Reading

Unbelievable.

1-1

very cooly taken

Reading deserve to go to ET - they've played very well.  Liverpool look so average.

Reading deserved that to be fair. Hope they lose on penalties though. Plastic cunts.

Ah Liverpool fans shush, it was a penalty no matter how much he milked it.

Says on bbc text that Reading fans were leaving with 5 mins to go, wankers.

Long journey home though - it's their money/ticket. I've never left a game early but some people do, I've no problem with that.

I've left the odd game early here and there over the last 20 years but never when there was only one goal in it!

Stupid.

hohohoho

rafa out!

2-1 Reading

bloody hell!

Liverpool are a mess.

part of me wants to laugh at liverpool but then i feel dirty as it means im rooting for reading.
but what a joke liverpool are turning out to be this season.

Shocking defending. Liverpool are playing pants.

only left one game early, was it oldham dicking us 3-0 last season at home?

IF the result stayed the same Benitez would blame the penalty decision, the injuries to Gerrard and Torres and the planets not aligning in the correct formation.

I find their semi-demise quite a amusing.

Since the second Reading goal - all the usual things have been covered....

Lucas = Rubbish
Ngog = Fluffs it
Gerrard and Torres unfit.

All of these coincide with images of middle-aged female Liverpool fans looking worried. Good ol' ITV :)

If they lose and he had any decency he would quit.

That should be that now.

YES! Children crying :D

I think this game highlights how royally fucked Liverpool are if they don't make the CL- take Gerrard and Torres out and they're average at best. I don't think it's a huge leap of faith to say they could be the next Leeds, what with the Americans still fighting- nobody will buy the club unless they can buy them both out.

For the second time, Reading have generally outplayed them without playing brilliantly either time.

Good god never hear the end of this from the mrs who supports Reading, ofcourse I will remind her of their league position.

Bye Bye Rafa?? Even the Liverpool fans must be losing faith in him now?

That game has confirmed to me my long held belief that the FA Cup is still a wonderful competition.  That was far better entertainment than another "Super Sunday - it'll probably be nil-nil again - top four contest".

It feels a bit wrong to say it, but I'm chuffed Reading won.

One more point, that has already been made, Liverpool are such an average side without Gerrard and Torres.  I really hope they don't make the top four this season, it might make English top flight football just a tiny bit more interesting.

Benitez has 'guaranteed' that Liverpool will finish in the top 4.

I'm not a betting man...but I have said all season that they will not get in the top 4, and at the way they are going they'll be lucky to qualify for a Europa Cup spot. The selling of Alonso was the biggest mistake of the summer, and Lucas and Ngog are so shit it's unbelievable.

Bloody funny.  I have no axe to grind with Reading, so always happy to see the Premier League side lose.  I know many on here refer to them as Plastics, so you may have enjoyed their left back called Bertrand.

How boring is Steve Coppell?

No more boring than most "pundits" I would wager.  I never watch the talking bit, always ruins the football for me.

A lot of people are still surprised with Liverpool this season.

When it became apparent that the League title would be out of reach people said they'd make up for it in the Champions League - Oh.

They're knocked out of the League Cup aswell - Oh.

When it became apparent that the League and Champions League was out of the question people said they'd make up for it in the F.A. Cup - Oh.

...and now they have this "awful" Europa competition which they've slagged off since falling in to it. If they win in Hamburg they'll make make it seem like they've won all of the above combined.

The American owners have hindered the club but they have forked out a decent amount too. Benitez has brought in some poor players and his tactics isolate one of the best forwards in the modern game.

This is all quite amusing really.

But seriously. If you thought Steve Davis was interesting on the Snooker....

Rafael Benitez' interviews are great. What's the point of talking to the media if you give these replies?

Are any football pundits (on TV) worth listening to?

Liverpool are average with Gerrard and Torres really.

And absolutely shit without them...

yeah

Torres is the next Barry Corr and Steven Gerrard is a poor mans Jonny Douglas

Will Benitez get a 'vote of confidence' in the morning ?

Nope because they gave him a massive contract and cannot afford to pay him off. So no V.o.C or sacking.

Will McDermott get one?

Who would replace him if he was sacked?

I imagine Steve Cotterill would apply  ::)

I think Rafa will be there for a while.

I find it so hillarious, the scouse fans on the football forums are all total hypocricital idiots and because them I generally find humour in Liverpool being crap.

Of course they beat Manchester United TWICE last season (just in casr you forgot) one of them was 4-1 (just in case you forgot) and they finished SECOND and they was WELL CLOSE to winning it.

Then they signed David N'dog - THIS YEAR IS OUR YEAR!! they cried.

They'll be lucky to finish 6th at this rate. Chelsea, United, Arsenal, City, Villa, Spurs!

I forgot about the new contract plus new backroom staff last summer.

The curse of a managers new contract has struck again. It amazing how many managers get sacked within a year of signing a new long term contract.

They may be hypocritical idiots Dave but stats show they are the second best supporters in the land. :)

define 'Best'

:)

Plenty of speare seats were available back in the mid-90's when they were winning nothing.

Tee hee

True

I see there were plenty of spare seats there tonight  :D

Enjoyed that  :)

Not to mention the likes of Birmingham, Fulham etc who are breathing down their necks

Agreed. Even if they were to pay him off, the new manager would have next to no money - Rafa will be there for a while, making excuses and blaming anyone but himself. How much was Aquilani?! Priceless

I think you mean "Have borrowed a huge amount and saddled all the debt on the club" a la Glazers. Then made some of that debt mountain available to the worst goatie in the League and the man sporting it.

None of which excuses the shit transfers, tactics, team selections, mind.

Get out you dick

Not entirely accurate. I'm led to believe that in Benetiz's contract that he has to sustain a top four finish.

That's ok then, because he's guaranteed that to the fans hasn't he ?

They don't.

Manchester United and Arsenal.

As an aside, I know the weather is terrible at the moment but Reading only took 800 fans last night, and some of them left early.

That is fucking terrible.

800 to one of the biggest names in football is rubbish.

I hope we have a final like Liverpool vs. West Ham that recaptures the imaginations of fans again. I love the F.A. Cup, it's a shame many don't feel the same anymore.

They only took 800, is that how many tickets they sold ? It doesn't sound too good I admit.

To be fair, given the weather conditions how many of our fans would have actually made the journey ?

We would have taken more than 800.

On a tuesday night? The weather was crap to be fair.

I would have thought so too.

True, but the game would have been less of a novelty for their fans.  We've not played their since Dec 1993, while they've played at Anfield several times in recent seasons.

several times? twice.

My mistake.  I thought they were in the Premiership for 3 years, not 2.

give them an inch.....

fuck off-it was a joke -went over your head obviously.(note emoticon)

I've got two VIP tickets to the Liverpool end of season party if anyone wants them.
I can't go, i'm busy Saturday.

How much?

 :D


I assume that was intended and not a genuine woosh moment?!

I didn't want to comment, as wasn't sure if Barry Scott was fishing or being genuine :)

But I also had PM from someone else who wanted the tickets too.

Tee hee

I think they deserve to be outed.

Looks like mummys all over the Reading area have been ironing there boys and girls Reading tops Thursday morning. They are all wearing them again after months of not a shirt in sight, shit fans only sing when they're winning.

HOPE THEY GO DOWN!!!

I see Liverpool sent at an e-mail a couple of hours before they played Reading, giving their fans the ticket arrangements for their 4th Round game against Burnley.